Grenades and similar devices to be launched by a firearm



G. WYSER 3,174,431

GRENADES AND SIMILAR DEVICES TO BE LAUNCHED BY A FIREARM March 23, 1965 Filed NOV. 26, 1962 United States Patent 40307 2 (llaims. ((Il. 102-652) The present invention relates to a special projectiles intended to be launched by a firearm intended normally to fire a bullet or similar ammunition (hereinafter called normal ammunition), launching of such a special projectile being effected by means of a special launching charge contained in an ammunition (hereinafter called special ammunition), which is a blank, that is to say does not comprise a projectile, intended to be fitted in the cartridge chamber of the firearm, instead of the normal ammunition, when it is desired to launch a special projectile. The invention is more especially, but not exclusively, concerned with grenades to be launched from a ride, and in particular an automatic or semi-automatic rifle.

The chief object of the present invention is to provide a special projectile of the above mentioned kind which is better adapted to meet the requirements of practice than those known up to this time, in particular concerning the safety of the rifleman in the case of the latter making, by mistake, use of the normal ammunition instead of the special one, for launching a special projectile.

The invention consists chiefly, while providing, rearwardly of the war head with which the special projectile is provided, a protective armor structure intended to form a shield preventing impact of said war head by a bullet fired by mistake in the firearm, in forming said protective armor structure by a pair of solid shield plates disposed one behind the other and in a continuous fashion across the path of travel of said bullet, said two shield plates being in contact with each other and being made of respective materials of different resistances, the material of the roar plate being more resistant than the material of the front plate.

A prefered embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter described with reference to the appended drawing, given merely by way of example, and in which:

The only figure of this drawing shows in side view, with parts cut away, the rear portion of a grenade made according to the invention and mounted on the muzzle brake forming the grenade launching device of a gun.

The invention is shown as illustrating the case of a grenade to be launched by an automatic or semi-automatic gun after fitting of a launching sleeve 1 (secured to the rear of the war head 2 of the grenade) on a grenade launching device 3 (which may act as a muzzle brake) carried by the front end of the barrel 4 of the gun.

The grenade as a whole is made of any suitable construction, for instance that illustrated by the drawing, and according to which the launching sleeve or casing 1 of said grenade is quite free inwardly, which would not be the case if said sleeve formed a housing for a booster having an axial nozzle.

There is provided, at the rear of the war head 2 of the grenade, in order to protect said head (and in particular the primer and the charge which it generally contains) against risks of explosion that might result from the accidental firing of a normal ammunition in the gun to launch the grenade, a protective armor device which will be hereinafter more explicitely described.

According to the present invention, instead of making this protective armor device of a single plate or similar structure, it is made of at least two distinct circular plates 5 and 6 disposed in tandem-like fashion, the composite armored structure thus constituted having proved to be more efiicient than a single armor plate.

Said plates 5 and 6 are in contact with each other.

On the other hand plates 5 and 6 are made of materials of different resistances, the material of the rear plate 6 being more resistant than that of the front plate 5.

For instance the rear plate 6 may be made of a chromium-molybdenum steel, tempered and reheated having a resistance averaging -140 kgs./mm.

And the front plate may be made of a steel having a resistance lower by about 20% than that of the steel of which the rear plate 6 is made.

As for the respective thicknesses of plates 5 and 6, they may be substantially equal, for instance of the order of magnitude of 4 mm. in the case of a grenade to be launched by means of a gun.

When the launching sleeve 1 is fixed on war head 2 by forcing or screwing of said sleeve on the rear part in of said war head, it is advantageous to proceed as follows:

The rear plate 6 forms a collar 6a bearing rearwardly against a shoulder 1a provided at the front end of sleeve 1 and turned toward the front.

The two armor plates 5 and 6 are caught between said shoulder in and the rear edge of the rear portion 2a of the war head 2 when securing the launching sleeve or casing 1 on said rear portion 2a.

It should be noted one might advantageously provide, at the periphery of one of the armor plates, for instance of the front plate 5, a chamfer 5a which permits of inserting, between plates 5 and 6, a packing joint 7 capable of opposing any leakage of the propelling gases through the fixation zone of sleeve 1 on war head 2.

The device above described has proved to be very efiicient, concerning the protection of the war head, when, due to a mistake of the rifleman, a normal ammunition, including a bullet, instead of the special ammunition including no bullet, is fired in the gun provided with a grenade.

This etficiency may be explained by the fact that the front plate of the composite armored structure brakes, by being deformed and without being burst, the bursting of the rear plate which absorbs most of the kinetic energy of the bullet fired by mistake.

in a general manner while the above description, discloses what is deemed to be a practical and efiicient embodiment of the invention, the present invention is not limited thereto as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition and form of the parts without departing from the principle of the invention as comprehended within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A projectile to be launched by a firearm with a blank ammunition, said projectile comprising, in combination, a war head, a tubular casing coaxial with said war head, said tubular casing being secured to the rear of said war head and adapted to fit on the end of a barrel of the firearm coaxially therewith, and two transverse metal plates including a front plate adjacent the war head and a rear plate adjacent the front plate and said plates being carried by said casing at the front thereof, said two plates forming a shield between the inside of said casing and said war head, said two plates having respective thicknesses of the same order of mag nitude and comprising metals of diiferent resistance such that the front plate is of less resistance to impact than the rear plate, whereby said rear plate is adapted to be 3 deformed Without being burst upon the impact of a bullet of a normal ammunition fired by mistake such as to brake the bullet so that the kinetic energy of the bullet may be absorbed by the less resistant front plate.

2. A projectile according to claim 1 wherein one of said plates has at its face adjacent the other of said plates a chamfered edge, said chamfered edge having a packing joint inserted along its surface, whereby said packing joint is disposed between the chamfered edge of one 4 plate, the face of the other plate, and the inside Wall of said casing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,313,926 Stokes Aug. 26, 1919 1,900,790 Brandt Mar. 7, 1933 2,498,080 Jasse Feb. 21, 1950 2,699,722 Brandt Jan. 18, 1955 

1. A PROJECTILE TO BE LAUNCHED BY A FIREARM WITH A BLANK AMMUNITION, SAID PROJECTILE COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A WAR HEAD, A TUBULAR CASING COAXIAL WITH SAID WAR HEAD, SAID TUBULAR CASING BEING SECURED TO THE REAR OF SAID WAR HEAD AND ADAPTED TO FIT ON THE END OF A BARREL OF THE FIREARM COAXIALLY THEREWITH, AND TWO TRANSVERSE METAL PLATES INCLUDING A FRONT PLATE ADJACENT THE WAR HEAD AND A REAR PLATE ADJACENT THE FRONT PLATE AND SAID PLATES BEING CARRIED BY SAID CASING AT THE FRONT THEREOF, SAID TWO PLATES FORMING A SHIELD BETWEEN THE INSIDE OF SAID CASING AND SAID WAR HEAD, SAID TWO PLATES HAVING RESPECTIVE THICKNESSES OF THE SAME ORDER OF MAGNITUDE AND COMPRISING METALS OF DIFFERENT RESISTANCE SUCH THAT THE FRONT PLATE IS OF LESS RESISTANCE TO IMPACT THAN THE REAR PLATE, WHEREBY SAID REAR PLATE IS ADAPTED TO BE DEFORMED WITHOUT BEING BURST UPON THE IMPACT OF A BULLET OF A NORMAL AMMUNITION FIRED BY MISTAKE SUCH AS TO BRAKE THE BULLET SO THAT THE KINETIC ENERGY OF THE BULLET MAY BE ABSORBED BY THE LESS RESISTANT FRONT PLATE. 